Media close to the government reports that the Syrian Army has entered the northern sector of the town of Khan Shaykhun, following the reported HTS withdrawal. (Al-Masdar)
Nicolás Maduro confirms United States reports that top Venezuelan officials have been having secret meetings with members of the Trump administration. Maduro claims the talks encourage Trump to listen to him; United States sources claim the talks encourage Maduro supporters to defect. (The Guardian)
Thirty-seven passengers on a bus over Rio–Niterói Bridge, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are held hostage before police shoot dead the armed hijacker. After closer inspection, police discover the hijacker used a fake plastic gun. (BBC)(Extra)
A modification of the Volcker rule is approved by the OCC and the FDIC. The new version eases rules on proprietary trading by Wall Street banks. Consumer groups criticize the rule change, claiming it removes protections from taxpayers. (Reuters)
Major League Soccer, the top level of the men's sport in the U.S., announces that a team in St. Louis, Missouri will become the league's 28th team, most likely in 2022. The ownership group, led by several female members of the Taylor family that controls the Enterprise Holdings car rental company, is the first in MLS in which women hold a majority interest. (ESPN)
Syrian Air Force warplanes repeatedly strike a Turkish military convoy driving through the rebel-held region of Idlib, reportedly causing several casualties and forcing it to stop. Turkey claims the convoy was aiming to supply observation posts, while Syria accuses it of carrying weapons and ammunition to rebel groups. (BBC)(The National)
66 people, including children, have been wounded after a series of ten explosions in restaurants and public squares hit the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, as the country marked the 100th anniversary of its independence from British rule. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. Even if many bombs exploded and several people were injured, no one died in the attacks. (Al Jazeera)
Unidentified militants launched an attack on an army unit, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 7 others, the heaviest loss for the army in its fight to contain Islamist violence. The army said it had launched a land and air operation in response to the attack. (Reuters)
After fifteen days of raging fires in the Amazon Forest in Rondônia, thick smoke clouds cover the Brazilian city of São Paulo in darkness. Street lamps had to be lit in the city around 2PM. The fires, suspected to be intentional, are still burning the forest. (G1)
Twitter says it has suspended more than 200,000 automated accounts on the social media site that it believes were part of a Chinese government-run campaign to spread misinformation about the protests in Hong Kong. (ABC News)
Evelyn Hernández is acquitted of murder after her newly-born child was found deceased in a toilet. The ruling is being held as a landmark case decision for women's rights in El Salvador, which has one of the strongest anti-abortion laws in Central America. (BBC)
ISIL claims responsibility for a terrorist attack against a wedding party in Afghanistan the day prior, which left 63 people dead and over 200 injured. (The Guardian)
Gibraltar authorities reject the request by the U.S. to seize the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1. They argue that EU, not U.S. law, is applicable in Gibraltar. The tanker is also renamed. (Al Arabiya)
The organizers claim that at least 1.7 million people join a peaceful rally in Victoria Park, Hong Kong. Protesters spill into nearby streets, with train service intermittently suspended due to the sheer number of people. (The Guardian)
63 people are killed and 182 wounded in a suicide attack at a wedding party in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attacker set off explosives among the invitees. (Al Arabiya)
The ruling military and the civilian opposition formally sign a power-sharing deal establishing a three-year transition period towards the election of a civilian government. (Al Jazeera)